Viscosity of Dilute Solutions of Long Chain Polymer Molecules

An expression for the relative viscosity ηr has been obtained on the basis of the ``theory of rate processes'' using an ``equivalent sphere'' model, which relates ηr to parameters such as the shearing force, absolute temperature, and the volume fraction of the polymer. In the limit of zero rate of shear, a relation between the Flory constant φ and Huggin's constant k″ has been obtained. Some important applications of the derived equations have been discussed.